On Golden Pond

We just spent the last 4 days in a cabin in the middle of the Maine woods.  Let it be known that the kids unanimously voted to stay in a hotel when asked where we should stay while in Maine, but I vetoed them ... sometimes mother really does know best!

As soon as we pulled in to the cabin, the kids stopped pouting about the fact that there was no pool and ran down to the pond (which looked like a lake to me -- I must have been sleeping the day they covered bodies of water in geography class)!

can't do this in a hotel pool!

Going ...

Going ...

Going ...

Gone!

The rustic cabin had bunk beds,

 a futon in the living room overlooking the lake,

 and the coveted loft sleeping area accessible via "pull-down" steps from the ceiling!

Ethan was beside himself with excitement to go fishing.

I did pry the kids away from the cabin, albeit begrudginly, to visit Acadia National Park, but their hearts were being called back to their own private slice of heaven.

After a quick breakfast, the kids were all back down to the dock with fishing rods and sticks with hooks and worms -- God himself must have stocked the lake that morning, because as soon as the kids put their line in the water, they caught a fish!

I googled "how to cook a freshly caught fish", but the answers were far too complicated (and gross), so we threw back in our bounty and cooked what we had in the fridge instead:

OK -- we didn't cook the crawlers!!

mmmmm .... lobstah!

dessert!!

The cabin came complete with a canoe, so I willingly obliged my inner Sacajawea and paddled each of the kids around on the beautiful water.

Hannah showing off her 6th grade boating skills!

our view from the canoe

Our cabin also came complete with an incinerator toilet -- won't go into too much detail, but let's just say that it made us appreciate the sound of the flush!

There were even some surprise fireworks on the dock to end our Saturday night.

still can't figure out how to get a good fireworks shot even with the new camera

Our last morning began with homemade pancakes made with wild Maine blueberries!

The remainder of our days at the cabin were mostly spent in the water,

catching frogs,

 feeding the ducks,

and playing games.

What our cabin did not have was internet or TV.  The four days spent off the grid were what vacation is supposed to be.  We fell asleep happily exhausted to the sound of chirping crickets and woke up early to the sound of the loons calling in the distance. 

We made memories together as a family -- memories that we will have for the rest of our lives.